Prayer is not enough for councilmen

June 08, 2012

Note to Mailbag contributor Bob Hastings, who believes he needs to pray more for his civic leaders (“Fuzzy reasoning from this council,” May 26). Don't waste your time. Instead, use your vote, the only power you have over them, to drum out of office Gary Brick, Dave Golonski and Jess Talamantes.

This triumvirate is responsible for $1 million a year of taxpayer money siphoned off for employee bonuses, while at the same time cutting city services, including public safety. They gave $2 million to the golf course while year after year ignoring needed repairs at the closed Verdugo Municipal Pool. They voted last September to allow cellphone tower installations in R-1 residential zones (Council members David Gordon and Emily Gabel-Luddy opposed). And they looked the other way as problems in the police department escalated to a full-blown scandal costing millions of dollars in outside legal counsel, causing an FBI investigation. A dedicated cop took his life. If this were Bell, citizens would scream “corruption.”

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Additionally, these three councilmen do not behave like gentlemen. During public meetings they often attempt to ridicule or embarrass their colleague, Councilman Gordon. In their clumsy attempts to do so, they end up looking, instead, like fools.

No, prayer simply is insufficient for these councilmen. They must be removed from office democratically, through the election process. In Bell citizens were so disgusted with their civic leaders that they threw them out of office by recall.